Electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles, or what have come to be known as flying taxis, could be the next wave of advanced air mobility, but along with infrastructure questions — can the electric grid handle the demand of air taxis — jurisdictional fights over governance stand in the way…
eVTOLs are distinguished from helicopters by their low cost, quiet operation, low carbon impact and the ability to land and take off in ultra small spaces. They’re already a $6.9 billion business, according to 2021 figures by Acumen Research and Consulting, mainly through institutional use by the military and search and rescue squads…
If a city wants to build a vertiport — an eVTOL take-off and landing site — in their downtown area, for example, they could probably do that. “The federal government really has no say there,” Ravich said. “But if you want to fly a taxi from that vertiport and enter national airspace, then the federal government may get involved and may try to preempt or trump state law.”
